The One That Didn't Get Away [100K Mile E30 325is]
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Needs more dump when you pump
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Daily mods continue.
M Sport front bumper and projector angel eye headlights. Bumper was needed regardless with how chewed up my original one was. Body shop lost my headlight washer covers, so waiting for those to be painted and then will throw those on. Really like the changed it made to the front of the car. Went with piano black M style double ribbed grilles.
Headlights were probably more of a drastic change. Not only do they look significantly better, and shave some years off the age of the car, they perform SIGNIFICANTLY better than the OEM halogens. Having fresh lenses also helps the overall appearance and some performance I'm sure.
I have the M sport side skirts, but I am having problems with the clips on the top of the skirt engaging into the car which is not allowing me to install them. Not sure if this is due to the mold of the skirt themselves, or if I am just approaching the install incorrectly. Might bring them over to my buddy who works at BMW to have him give them a go.
Next on the list will be to change the shocks and struts out as mine are probably blown or very close to it. Next mods will be probably next spring and will be the M sport rear bumper and the GTS style tail lights.
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The F30 looks so good.
Is the electric steering as much of a buzzkill as the automotive journalists make it out to be?
Does the car seem near impossible to work on? Probably not so much with the 4cyl
I think the electric steering rack numbness feeling is overblown, but I'm not exactly an authority of steering feel. But when I drive it I never get the feeling that it feels numb or "off".
I haven't done really any mechanical maintenance on this car yet, but under the hood reminds me of my TJ wrangler that had a 4 cylinder. There's a mile between the front of the motor and the radiator. I would imagine basic maintenance is not a terrible experience to complete.
In terms of the front bumper and headlight install. Really wasn't anything difficult, good amount of room to maneuver if you pull the wheel well guards out. Only trouble point I had was unbolting the bottom of the headlights on one side. It uses a "nut" that is self contained. Square nut on one side that has an enclosure to prevent it from spinning, that sometimes fails and will just spin so you have to use a vice grip to pinch it.
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These mod's have really transformed the look of the car. It doesn't look like a basic ass commuter anymore!
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Drove the car to Elkhart Lake Saturday as a scouting run for the up coming season. Couldn’t be more excited for RA to be 100% back this year.
While I was on my way down, I was passing through Chilton and saw a woman waving me down just past the Kwik Trip. Wasn’t sure if it was a wave for the car or if I was doing something wrong, or something wrong with the car. Turned out it was the lady that I bought the car from. She texted me and we agreed to meet into New Holstein which is only 10 mins past Chilton.
She was thrilled with the condition of the car and loved that it was with someone who cared about. It was really nice to catch-up and show the status of the car. Also, the odds of seeing her in Chilton on a Saturday morning...
Looking into a getting a steam cleaner to do undercarriage and engine bag detailing. Dry ice blasting is the future, but I will settle for steam for the time being.
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Cool story!
explain the steam cleaned undercarriage? Is it particularly oily? Or are you about to park it over some mirrors at a car show?
Trans is pretty grimey, but it’s honestly just something that I’ve wanted to do and even more so want to do after being introduced to dry ice blasting. Just having things cleaned, and knowing that they are really cleaned, makes me feel better. It also makes things much more enjoyable to work on when they are clean.
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UUC Evo 3 SSK installed. Unfortunately, the DSSR could not be installed as the shift knuckle off the back of the trans was the wrong one, thought my car had the right one, but guess not. Poly bushings where the bitch clips inserts and Turner poly carrier bushing were also installed. Shifter feels super tight, notchy, directional. Was worried the throw was going to be too short for my liking, but this is the perfect amount for my driving style.
Only issues are that the shifter in neutral sits at maybe a 10-15 degree tilt towards the passenger side, not a huge deal, but a little annoying. Another thing, and maybe this is me only used to driving cars with factory shifters, is the 1-2 throw feels a little more difficult. If I had to rate the 1-2 throw, it would be maybe 4.5-5 out of 10 in terms of effort needed. Where as the others are more like a 3-3.5, compared to stock which I would say was like a 2-2.5. Only other thing, is that the ZHP weighted knob must not fit the profile of the shifter itself as it has maybe 5 degrees of rotational play in it. It doesn’t feel like it would come off, but it’s a little annoying that it rotates a little, and makes a little bit of clacking when going through the gears.
UUC did not include the six Allen head bolts that connect the collar to the carrier arm, so I bought some Phillips screws of the same pitch. They were a little longer than the ones that would have been included, so they had to be shimmed with some washers so the screws wouldn’t contact the ball the shifter pivots on. My only thought as to why the couple of things might be out of whack.
Overall, very pleased with it, even without the DSSR, it feels extremely tight and directional. For me, this car exceeds at the warm summer evening, back road, sunset country cruise with the radio(Bluetooth speaker in my case) playing some good tunes. Really hard to beat.
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Posted in the FB group chat, but was able to score two pretty rare items for a steal on eBay last week. They are in pretty good condition, the dead pedal has a little bit of the paint flaking. I’m not sure if these are painted or powder coated from the factory.
I don’t know what the proper way to “restore” these would be. Media blasting and then powder coated? Or would it be better to just leave them as is? The valve cover would be a really good candidate for dry ice cleaning.
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Posted in the FB group chat, but was able to score two pretty rare items for a steal on eBay last week. They are in pretty good condition, the dead pedal has a little bit of the paint flaking. I’m not sure if these are painted or powder coated from the factory.
I don’t know what the proper way to “restore” these would be. Media blasting and then powder coated? Or would it be better to just leave them as is? The valve cover would be a really good candidate for dry ice cleaning.
Sandblast, Powdercoat, Sand. And I would clear powercoat over the top.
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Cars been down since August of last year. Was leaking coolant into the drivers footwell. Believed to be heater core valve. Purchased the valve, heater core, and O rings that should be here end of this week. I don’t want to deal with draining coolant or any of that shit so I’m having the guys at Auto Clinic do it. I also don’t really have anywhere to do the repair at the moment.
I did take the interior apart to make it easier for them to do the repair. Now it’s exposed and ready for them to replace.
You can see where it appears to have been leaking based on the carpet. It might be the O rings that failed, but I’m just going to replace all of it.
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Exhaust removal can be a pain. Start spraying down assorted exhaust bolts/nuts now with penetrant of choice.
This and I would just plan on getting a full set of studs/nuts to replace them. It’s tedious but you’re likely to have a few of those nuts seized to the stud and will only come out as one.
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This and I would just plan on getting a full set of studs/nuts to replace them. It’s tedious but you’re likely to have a few of those nuts seized to the stud and will only come out as one.
Probably will just end of buying this.
https://www.iemotorsport.com/product/exhaust-hanger-kit-e30-m20/
I'll have to check, but it looks like the cat back came with 4 exhaust studs and nuts.
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Probably will just end of buying this.
https://www.iemotorsport.com/product/exhaust-hanger-kit-e30-m20/
I'll have to check, but it looks like the cat back came with 4 exhaust studs and nuts.
I’m lacking on sleep, sorry I was thinking about the exhaust manifolds when I wrote that. That IE kit has everything you’d need from the manifolds back.
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Interior back in the car. Almost ready to make its summer/fall residence in my garage. Which means the truck will be in the lot. Storage unit was nice to have both cars in covered storage, but saving ~$80 a month will also be nice. Car will stay in my parents storage for winter unit once they put their boat away for the season.
Carpet extraction, Leatherique, and exhaust are the first bits on the list to start the season off.
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